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Watching Western German television was not officially forbidden and in the 80s most people did it. It was, however, frowned upon and seen as suspect by the auth
by lower 8y ago
Watching Western German television was not officially forbidden and in the 80s most people did it. It was, however, frowned upon and seen as suspect by the authorities. Imagine having to justify yourself in a discussion with the Stasi for consuming the enemies' propaganda.
- usrusr 8y agoI think that there is a lot of confusion between what was actually forbidden and what was merely making people more suspect of getting recruited by enemy intelligence and the like. And that this confusion wasn't at all exclusive to outsiders looking back, but was present, or even dominant, within Stasi itself. "Make a list of people to check in the emergency of a CIA counterrevolutionary project" can quickly turn into "Make a list of people to crack down on for lack of ideological commitment", particularly in an organization in the spy game, where need-to-know must be the norm.